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The Detroit Lions head into the upcoming offseason with plenty of dilemmas across the board within their roster.
One could debate for hours on whether the first year under general manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell was anywhere close to a success. Of course, the Lions once again missed out on playing playoff football, but the team did have multiple promising performances over the campaign. They clinched upset wins against teams such as the Arizona Cardinals and also battled with the San Francisco 49ers in a high-scoring duel in Week 1.
As was the case in their first offseason together last year, Holmes and Campbell may not push to have the Lions be among more of the aggressive teams in the free agency period in March. They have less than $30 million open in cap space and are also rebuilding through the draft.
At the least, Holmes may end up making multiple notable moves within the team. Several players could end up being cut or traded away in the coming months in an effort to clear up cap space for the next couple of offseasons.
In the big picture, the Lions could possibly opt to part ways with one veteran talent on the defensive side of the ball.
One player on the Lions who could be a surprise roster cut in the 2022 offseason
Outside linebacker Trey Flowers was among multiple former New England Patriots players who elected to reunite with now-former Lions head coach Matt Patricia during his roller-coaster tenure in Detroit. Although he garnered plenty of interest in the early stages of the free agency period, Flowers opted to join Detroit on a five-year, $90 million deal with $56 million of it being guaranteed.
Over his debut season in Detroit, Flowers showcased his keen pass-rushing prowess that was often on display during his run with the Patriots. He notched 7.0 sacks and 35 total pressures, as his sheer speed off of the line of scrimmage was often too much for opposing tackles to handle at times.
Since then, Flowers’ tenure with the Lions has been marred by injury. For one, he wound up missing 10 games in the 2021 regular season and was placed on injured reserve in early December due to a knee injury suffered during Detroit’s road tie result against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In his first season as Lions defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn was quite innovative with Flowers, as he opted to move him from defensive end over to the outside linebacker position. Overall, this transition did not pan out for much success. Overall, Flowers averaged a mere 1.0 pressures per game and with an increase in pass defense assignments, he wound up allowing a 150.2 passer rating while in coverage.
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As Flowers now has a mere two seasons remaining on his current contract deal, there could be a possibility that the Lions will opt to end his tenure with the team, which Holmes plans to have talks about in the offseason.
“Yeah, you know Trey, you’re talking about the ultimate glue guy, ultimate leader,” Holmes said during a press conference in January. “He’s what we’re all about, in terms of grit and being just a football player. So it was unfortunate what he had to deal with, but again, those discussions are going to be forward down the road.”
At the least, Campbell much respected Flowers for accepting the move over to the outside linebacker position.
“He’s doing a good job,” Campbell said ahead of the season. “It is a little new for him. It’s different, it is. There are things I’m asking him to do that he hasn’t done. Here’s the beauty of Trey, he’s smart, he works his rear off, he’s adaptable, and he’s tough.”
Flowers is set to hold a $23.3 million cap number for the 2022 campaign. If the Lions opt to cut him ahead of June 1, they would carry over $12.2 million in dead cap space for the season but also save $10.3 million. However, if they elect to instead cut him after June 1, they would hold a combined $12.8 million in dead cap space for the next two seasons but also save $16.0 million.
The Lions will certainly have a number of options on just which route to take with Flowers’ future with the team. They could opt to simply keep him for the 2022 campaign or opt to part ways with him in an effort to mainly rely upon the likes of pass rushers Julian Okwara and Austin Bryant at the outside linebacker position for next season.
In the big picture, a pivotal offseason sure will be upcoming for the Lions.
